Nothing fancy here, just tried and true, old fashioned, family style recipes from my kitchen in Alaska.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

BACON RISOTTO

There are huge "blind spots" in my cooking repertoire, like various herbs that I've never been introduced to, or spices that picky-picky husband refuses to eat and then there is always the financial restrictions that keep me from trying certain foods.

I'm not sure which of these categories risotto falls into (I've never even tasted it before today) but I'm guessing that the $10 price tag for a 36 ounce jar of Arborio rice was part of the "hold up". I know I will be on a search for a more reasonable source, in the near future, for this specialty rice since we liked it so much.

This recipe came from allrecipes.com and it is absolutely delicious. I am really looking forward to reheating it for tomorrows lunch!!

Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a sauce pan, over high heat; reduce the heat to low and keep the chicken stock hot.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion begins to turn golden brown at the edges, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir until it is coated in butter and has started to toast, about 2 or 3 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium and stir in one third of the hot chicken stock; continue stirring until the rice has absorbed the liquid and turned creamy.

Repeat this process two more times, stirring constantly, which should take about 15-20 minutes total time. The rice should be tender but slightly firm when fully cooked.

Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the cheese and the crisp bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

NOTE: As a first time risotto maker, I was nervous about making rice without using a lid on the pan, but it works great...just don't rush it.

NOTE: I wanted the bacon flavor to cook into the rice, so I put about half of the crisp bacon into the rice as it cooked, then mixed in the other half of the crisp bacon before serving. I will definitely do that again because it gave the rice a wonderful flavor.

NOTE: The recipe calls for four cloves of garlic, but that seems like a LOT. I didn't use any garlic because picky-picky is allergic to it.

Have to try this one with bacon...Have you tried making the leftover risotto into rice patties? Add an egg to rice to make it stick together, form into patties. Dip in beaten egg and then breadcrumbs. Brown in a little oil or butter...(Love your blog!) Joleen